The invention relates generally to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to a connector assembly that mechanically and electrically connects substrates.
Known mezzanine connectors mechanically and electrically connect circuit boards. A header assembly is mounted to one circuit board and a mating connector is mounted to another circuit board. The header assembly and the mating connector mate with one another to mechanically and electrically interconnect the circuit boards. The circuit boards are separated from one another by a stack height when interconnected by the header assembly and the mating connector. Contacts in the header assembly and the mating connector mate with the circuit boards and provide the electrical connections between the circuit boards. In order to secure the header assembly and the mating connector together, the header assembly and the mating connector are manually pushed toward one another. The manual pushing on the header assembly and the mating connector can be an unreliable manner for securing the header assembly and the mating connector together. The manual pushing on the header assembly and the mating connector may be insufficient to mechanically and electrically connect the header assembly and the mating connector. The header assembly and the mating connector may require a significant amount of mating force to mate the header assembly and the mating connector. Manually applying the mating force on the circuit boards to which the header assembly and the mating connector are mounted may overly stress the circuit boards or prohibit contacts in the header assembly or mating connector from reliable electrical engagement with the circuit boards. Additionally, the circuit boards may plastically deform or break due to the manual application of the mating force.
Thus, a need exists for a more reliable and controllable manner for mechanically and electrically mating a header assembly and a mating connector to mechanically and electrically interconnect circuit boards with one another.